Team Members: ______Block: ______
Eastern Asia: Trial Objectives Political

Instructions: The following primary and secondary sources are designed to provide your legal firm with the information needed to formulate arguments that will show that the societies you represent have met and exceeded the challenges posed by the following four questions. Use your time wisely and provide responses with proof that your culture has shown the best answers to these questions on earth for this time period. Be aware that other trial teams have access to this information as well and will be looking for weaknesses in your arguments. Be prepared to defend your assertions.

1. How should the ruler act?

2. What is the role of law in society?

3. What role does the individual play in the governance of this society?

4. How is the political organization of this society helpful to the maintenanceof prosperity, security, and growth in this society?

Objective: Identify the ways in which the political systems of Eastern Asia led to prosperity, security, and growth.

1. Use the chronology of Eastern Asia to identify political developments that show prosperity, security, and growth in the respective societies. Be prepared to identify the cultures and the developments. (This can be in the areas of law, conquest, architecture, religious movements, economic improvements, etc.)

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Chronology of Chinese Dynasties 386 -

420-Southern & Northern Dynasties

589 CEWith the collapse of Eastern Jin in 420 AD, China entered the era of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In north the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534 AD) of the Xianbei tribe dominated the northern part of China, south of Yangtze River the Chinese dynasty Liu Song ruled the land. Like most of the time in China's history, it was again an age of civil war and political disunity. Despite these troubles it was also a time of flourishing of arts and culture, advancement in technology. Buddhism, imported from India, and the native religion and philosophy of Taoism were spreading.

581-Sui Dynasty

618 CEThe short-lived dynasty, founded by Emperor Wen (Yang Jian), unified Southern and Northern China after four centuries of fragmentation in which North and South had gone quite different ways. It was a period of great prosperity.

618-Tang Dynasty

907 CEFounded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. The capital of the dynasty was Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), the most populous city in the world at that time. The Tang period is regarded by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization - equal to or surpassing that of the earlier Han Dynasty - as well as a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, was greater than that of the Han period, and rivaled that of the later Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was largely a period of progress and stability, except during the An Shi Rebellion and the decline of the central authority in the latter half of the dynasty.

Second Zhou

690-The Tang dynasty was interrupted briefly by the Second Zhou Dynasty when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, becoming the 705 CE first and only Chinese empress regnant, ruling in her own right. Wu began her career at the age of 13 as a junior concubine at the palace of the second Tang emperor Taizong.

907-Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

960 CEThe period was an era of political upheaval in China, beginning in the Tang Dynasty and ending in the Song Dynasty. This period lasted a little more than half a century, and China was scattered in a multi-state nation. Five dynasties quickly succeeded one another in the old Imperial heartland in northern China, and more than 12 independent states were established, mainly in parts of southern and western China. However, only ten are traditionally listed, hence the era's name "Ten Kingdoms".

907-Liao Dynasty

1125 CEAlso known as the Khitan Empire, was an empire in northern China that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper.The empire was founded by Liao's first ruler Emperor Taizu of Liao of the Yelu clan in the same year as the Tang Dynasty collapsed.

960-Song Dynasty

1279 CEThe Song Dynasty was a period in Chinese history often called a "Chinese Renaissance" marked by progress in technology, inventions, and revolutionary new economic concepts, like the development of the banknote (printed paper money), which led to commercial expansion and economic prosperity. Private trade grew and a market economy began to link the coastal provinces with the interior. The Song court upheld foreign relations with Chola India, Fatimid Egypt, Srivijayan Indonesia, and other countries. The enormous growth rate of the populations doubled China's overall population to more than 100 million people due to increased agricultural cultivation in the 10th to 11th century.The Song Dynasty is divided into two distinct periods: the Northern Song and Southern Song.

960-Northern Song

1127 CEEmperor Taizu of Song (r. 960–976) unified China through military conquest during his reign, ending the upheaval of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. With a strong central government the dynasty controlled most of inner China. The Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (today Kaifeng, eastern Henan province).

1038-Western Xia Dynasty
1227 CEThe Empire was established by Tangut tribes and existed almost 200 years in what are now the northwestern Chinese provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, and Ningxia.

1115-Jin Dynasty

1234 CEThe Jin Dynasty (also called Gold Dynasty) was founded by a nomadic Manchu tribe known as the Jurchens who originated from the Manchuria region. In 1115, one of the Jurchen leaders, Wanyan Aguda, unified the whole Jurchen group and established the Jin Dynasty in Huining Fu (today Acheng, Heilongjiang Province). Later, the capital city was moved to Yanjing (today Beijing) and finally settled in Bianjing (currently Kaifeng, eastern Henan province).

1127-Southern Song

1279 CERefers to the period after the Song lost control of northern China to the Jin Dynasty. The Song court retreated and established its capital at Lin'an located in the Yangtze River Delta (today Hangzhou, Zhejiang province).

Although weakened and pushed south along the Huai River, the Southern Song found new ways to bolster their already strong economy and to defend their state against the Jin Dynasty. The government sponsored massive shipbuilding and harbor improvement projects, to protect and support the multitudes of ships sailing for maritime interests. With this the Song Dynasty established China's first permanent navy in 1132.

1271-The Yuan Dynasty

1368 CEThe dynasty's official title 'Da Yuan' (Chinese, "Great Yuan") originates from 'I Ching'. It was the first non-Han dynasty to rule all of China. It was a khanate of the Mongol Empire, a political entity ruled by a Khan, namely Kublai Khan. He became the first Yuan emperor, his reign dominated over Mongolia, Inner China, and some adjacent areas. Kublai Khan proclaimed the capital to be at Dadu (today Beijing). After some years of hard work, he finally defeated the Han-Dynasty of Southern Song in 1279. As emperor he also worked hard to minimize the influences of regional lords who had held immense power before and during the Song Dynasty. Almost all important central posts were monopolized now by Mongols. Unlike his predecessors Kublai Khan had decided to become the first absolute monarchy.

1368-Ming Dynasty

1644 CEThe Empire of the Great Ming followed the collapse of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Rivalry among the Mongol imperial heirs, natural disasters, and uprisings of Han Chinese groups against the Yuan Dynasty led to its collapse. The Ming dynasty was founded by the Han Chinese Zhu Yuanzhang, a former Buddhist monk from a peasant family. In 1356 Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel force captured the city of Yingtian (Nanjing), where he established his own military base. In 1368, after Zhu Yuanzhang's army captured the Yuan capital Dadu (today Beijing), Zhu Yuanzhang officially proclaimed himself Emperor of China and founded the Ming Dynasty. Under Zhu Yuanzhang the Chinese government established a standing army of 1,000,000 warriors and ordered the construction of a vast navy.

The era saw enormous projects of construction, including the restoration of the Grand Canal, the Great Wall and the construction of the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) in Beijing. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Hans.

THE CHRONOLOGY OF JAPANESE HISTORY TO 1545 CE

413 CE / Direct contacts with China initiated; scribes from Korea introduce Chinese style writing
552, 580 CE / Buddhism introduced from Korea; Buddhism becomes the state religion of the Yamato clan
593 – 628 CE / Empress Suiko’s advisor Prince Shotoku creates Chinese style state but bureaucrats from elite; 17 Article Constitution (Code of Conduct): moral injunctions, Confucian ethics, Buddhist influences
7th Century / Provincial officials are state appointees; officials remain in capital, delegate authority to local elite
646 CE / Taika Reforms: strengthen central government, maximized tax revenue; Confucian bureaucracies nationalize land, adopt Tang equal field land distribution; hierarchy remains hereditary aristocracy
697 CE / Empress Jito abdicates, young grandson becomes emperor; set pattern of minor ruler with regent
710 CE / First permanent capital at Nara, laid out like Chinese capital of Chang-an
752 CE / Great Buddha of Nara shows Buddhist influence; Shinto gods increasingly seen as Buddhist deities
794 CE / Capital moved to Heian (Kyoto) to escape Buddhist influence, because city has direct access to sea
805 – 806 CE / Appearance, development of new Buddhist sects peculiar to Japan; Shingon, Tendai sects
806 CE / Conquest, settlement of Northern Japan complete; Ainu (original inhabitants) only in Hokkaido
838 CE / Court abandoned embassies as China in chaos, no benefit; decline of Chinese institutions begins
858 CE / Fujiwara clan dominates imperial government; family appoints regents for child emperors
10th Century CE / Simple script for writing Japanese devised: prose, literature rise to new levels of accomplishments
935 – 941 CE / Civil strife in provinces = emergence of new military elite (samurai); growth of tax-free manors
967 – 1068 CE / Court society, emperor refined, isolated; court nobles use samurai to settle jealousies, feuds
985 CE / Pure Land Buddhism offers salvation: through prayer Amida Buddha intervenes to save believer
995 – 1027 CE / Brilliant time of artistic, literary achievements: Tale of Genji, Pillow Book; outstanding architecture
1039 CE / Monks invade capital to force will on government; driven off by samurai, whose influence grows
11th Century CE / Transfer of aristocratic estates to provincial elite; code of ethics, loyalty to feudal lord not emperor
1156, 1160 CE / Civil war between clans to establish a military dictatorship; militarization of society, clans
1180 – 1185 CE / War between Taira, Minamoto clans leads to elimination of Fujiwara clan; Taira establish shogun
1185 – 1333 CE / Two capitals: emperor isolated religious, social figurehead; military government in Kamakura rules
1185 – 1199 CE / Centralized feudalism arises: rise of great feudal lords from amongst samurai; impoverishment of court nobles; shogun appoints military retainers to control provinces; they levy taxes, enforce laws
1191 CE / Zen Buddhism introduced, emphasizes personal meditation; favored by samurai
1199 CE / Hojo clan becomes effective rulers behind shoguns – rules as regents for young, weak shoguns
13th Century CE / Japanese merchants replace foreigners in trade; Japanese pirates raid, plunder Korea, China
1221 CE / Emperor tries to overthrow shogun, defeated; shogun confiscates imperial lands to give to allies
1224 CE / True Pure Land Buddhism introduced married clergy; most popular of sects with commoners
1232 CE / New Japanese legal code based on custom, not Chinese traditions; women could own property
1274 – 1281 CE / Mongol invasions defeated; invasions bankrupt shogun, no rewards for samurai, who grow restless
1331 – 1338 CE / Attempted restoration of emperor, supported by monasteries, imperial clans; change of shoguns
1339 CE / Chronicle of Descent of the Gods: emphasizes imperial cult, patriotism; fueled nationalism, Shinto
1336 – 1568 CE / Ashikaga Shogunate: shifting alliances, political instability, redistribution of feudal economic rights. Large territories divided, given to vassals, collapse of clans, division of inheritances ended
14th Century CE / Male primogeniture; women inferior to father, husband, used to cement marriage alliances; elite women lost public roles; women in merchant, artisan families exercised some independence
15th Century CE / Monks, samurai interests dominate artistic, intellectual life: tea ceremony, Noh drama, martial arts
1401 CE / Trade with China leads to growth of towns, ports, industries; Neo-Confucianism spreads in Japan. Japan imports luxuries, books, drugs; exports raw minerals, lacquer, horses, sword, armor
1428 CE / Small farmers, small landowners revolt against high taxes, moneylenders; field their own armies
1465 CE / Buddhist monks develop militaries, open warfare between sects; participate in trade, banking
1467 – 1477 CE / Onin War: shifts of fiefs, power, elimination of old feudal families; rise of daimyo as territorial lords
16th Century CE / Rise of castle towns, new commercial classes to support lords with industries, crafts, artisan guilds Daimyos introduce regular tax collection, settle unoccupied lands; encourage new tools, new crops (tea, soybeans, silk, paper, dyes, vegetables, hemp), draft animals led to increased yields
1530 CE / Skilled metallurgists arrive from Korea, China; Japan becomes major exporter of silver to China

THE CHRONOLOGY OF KOREAN HISTORY TO 1392 CE

500 – 544 CE / Silla aristocracy: bone ranks, hereditary bloodline, stratification, privileges; Silla uses Buddhism &Confucian bureaucracy to weaken aristocrats; advances in farming, plowing by oxen, rice expands
6th Century CE / Idu used: Korean words written as ideographs used with Chinese script reflect Korean language
660 – 667 CE / China, Silla ally against Korguryo, Paekche, nomads; Silla unites Korea, loses Manchuria to China
668 – 918 CE / Unified Silla; drive Tang out but become Chinese vassal; aristocracy settled in capital to control
682 CE / Silla creates National Confucian College, establishes Chinese studies; open only to aristocrats
7th Century CE / Constant warfare = rise of slavery, ruin of peasants; artisans usually royal slaves; slave villages. Silla active in maritime trade due to tribute to China; merchant ambassadors carried on trade
681 CE / Government reorganized; new local capitals manned by aristocrats; army under state control
687 CE / Aristocrats allowed to exact only grain from peasants; aristocrats owned large estates, many slaves
8th Century CE / Silla imports Confucian administrators to limit aristocrats; youth organizations form elite troops. Rise of castle lords, regionally powerful families who challenge centralized state; sap state revenue
788 CE / Bureaucratic exam system emphasizing learning over rank established to earn government jobs
9th Century CE / Pure Land Buddhism stressing devotion, salvation popular with commoners; Zen favored by elites. Buddhist monasteries expand landholding; set up relief granaries; involved in commerce, banking
918 CE / Silla breaks up; rise of Koryo using Silla bureaucrats dismantles rank system of aristocrats
981 CE / New aristocracy expanded; social status hereditary although promotions for accomplishments
All free men had to serve in military; all peasants performed forced labor for state, estates annually
10th Century CE / Koryo families trace lineage through male, female lines; conduct morning for both genders; societyPatrilineal and matrilineal; equal inheritance; if divorce, children go with mother; women own land
993 – 1231 / Koryo battles, trades with Manchurian nomadic states; accepts Jurchen suzerainty to avoid war
1037 CE / Children of commoners/slaves are slaves; artisans usually royal slaves; 1/3 of population was slave
11th Century CE / Rise of Yangban: civil officials, military officers who are part of the king’s inner court; monopoliesdominate commerce; few commercial towns; few markets, itinerant peddlers in countryside
1145 CE / History of 3 Kingdoms (epic); argues all Koreans form a single nation, stressed Confucianism
1172 CE / Uprisings led to military dictatorship, which deposed kings, broke power of Buddhist military units
1213 – 1350 CE / Japanese pirates raid Korea coast; peasants flee, maritime trade, grain, taxes to capital paralyzed
1231 – 1258 CE / Mongols attack Koryo, strong resistance; Koryo makes peace with Mongols, kings allowed to rule
1270 CE / Korean kings intermarry with Mongol imperial family, adopt Mongol customs, dress, names
1274, 1281 CE / Mongols attempt to conquer Japan; Koreans help Mongol with navies including iron clad warships
1286 CE / Neo-Confucianism introduced; blends Buddhism, Confucianism, emphasis on learning, nation
1351 CE / Mongols retreat, royal family discredited; reforms create scholar-official class selected by exams
1377 CE / Government monopoly of guns, gunpowder; new army, navy created driving off Japanese pirates
1388 CE / New military dictatorship began land reform, support scholar gentry; all land registers abolished
1370 - 1390 CE / Korean king receives investiture from Ming China; new Yi Dynasty replaces Koryo kings

Objective: How should the ruler act? / What is the individuals’ role in the governance of society?

2. What is the objective of the Chinese government in forcing its’ subjects to show this kind of deference to their leaders?

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The inferior officers of the cities, and those commonly who have the direction of the customs and of the treasury, are almost all eunuchs, some of whom have been captured on the frontiers and made so, while others are so treated by their fathers, and sent as presents to the emperors. These officers are at the head of the principal affairs of state, and have the management of the emperor's private affairs, and of the treasury; and those, particularly, who are sent to Canfu, are selected from this class. It is customary for them, and for the viceroys or governors of the cities, to appear abroad from time to time in solemn procession. On these occasions, they are preceded by men who carry great pieces of wood, like those used in the Levant instead of bells by the Christians, on which they make a noise which is heard at a great distance, upon which every person gets out of the way of the prince or eunuch. Even if a man is at his door, he goes in, and keeps his door shut till the great personage has gone by. Thus, not a soul is in the way, and this is enjoined that they may strike a dread into the people, and be held in veneration; and the people are not allowed to see them often, lest they should grow so familiar as to speak to them.. .